PingFederate’s Reference ID Adapter can pass user attributes between an application and PingFederate through HTTP(S) calls. It can serve as a server-side handoff in a proposed Entra account-linking broker, but it does not itself exchange or validate Entra tokens—and the described PingFederate-to-Entra flow has not been verified end to end.
What the Reference ID Adapter does—and what it does not
Ping Identity describes the adapter as a way for user attributes to be passed in and out of PingFederate through direct HTTP(S) calls. Its Agentless Integration Kit exposes two relevant routes: /ext/ref/dropoff submits user-session attributes, and /ext/ref/pickup retrieves attributes associated with a reference ID. See Ping Identity’s Reference ID Adapter configuration guide and endpoint documentation.
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The reference ID is a way to retrieve a stored attribute handoff; it is not an Entra token, a token-exchange protocol, or proof that a token is valid. Any broker using this pattern must separately establish how it receives, validates, and handles Entra credentials. The adapter’s endpoint authentication methods should not be mistaken for acceptance of Entra credentials.
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The matching article presents a broker design in which PingFederate’s reference ID carries the handoff while sensitive account-linking work stays server-side. The article’s indexed description says this live PingFederate/Entra path has not been verified end to end, so treat the sequence below as a proposal for architectural review, not a tested integration. The article is available at PingFederate as a Token Courier.
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- Create a bounded link intent. The proposed safeguards include an owner-bound, one-use intent so the account-linking operation is associated with the right portal user.
- Keep the reference opaque in the browser. The portal returns the reference to the broker, which performs the authenticated pickup on the server side rather than exposing the retrieved attributes in a browser flow.
- Bind the result to the portal identity. The proposed broker checks that the subject retrieved through the handoff matches the
subclaim in the portal token. This is a design claim in the article, not an independently verified behavior. - Check and protect credentials. The article proposes redeeming a refresh token immediately to test it, storing the resulting connection encrypted, and clearing credentials after a scope-escalation event. It also recommends allowlisting scopes. These are review questions for the broker implementation, not demonstrated adapter features.
The adapter transports attributes; the broker remains responsible for the security properties of the link intent, subject binding, token handling, and persistence.
Reference IDs are short-lived, single-use handoff keys
Ping Identity’s development considerations describe reference IDs as long hexadecimal strings whose length is configurable; the default length is 30 bytes. A reference ID belongs to the adapter instance that issued it, so a pickup must reach the corresponding instance.
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Each reference is single-use and expires after a configurable interval. The documented default lifetime is three seconds, intended to reduce replay risk. Coordinate application-server and federation-server clocks, and change the interval only as needed to tolerate clock skew. A bad or expired reference produces an empty attribute set; incorrect client credentials can produce HTTP 401.
Choose one endpoint-authentication method for the deployment
Ping Identity documents four ways for a client to authenticate endpoint calls. The mechanics differ; the documentation does not rank them by security, and they are not interchangeable in operational fit. Select the method that meets the deployment’s policy and client capabilities, then configure it as described in the current vendor documentation on authentication methods.
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| Method | Credential and transport | Configuration or client requirement |
|---|---|---|
| Bearer access token | Access token in the HTTP Authorization header |
Configure the Access Token Manager, allowed client IDs, and required bearer scopes for the adapter. |
| Client certificate | Client’s SSL private key and corresponding public certificate, exchanged during TLS negotiation | Use the back-channel port and a client able to present the certificate; the certificate is not sent as an HTTP header. |
| Custom headers | Configured user name and pass phrase in ping.uname and ping.pwd |
Vendor guidance positions this for clients that cannot use Basic encoding or certificate authentication. |
| HTTP Basic | Base64-encoded configured username and pass phrase in the HTTP Authorization header |
The client must support HTTP Basic authentication. |
For a broker design, configure endpoint authentication as its own trust decision. Do not assume that a token supplied by Entra can be used directly to authenticate a Reference ID Adapter call.
Configuration decisions that shape the handoff
The PingFederate 12.2 administrator documentation describes configuration options including the application’s authentication endpoint and credentials, optional certificate distinguished-name restrictions, logout settings, an extended adapter contract, a unique user-key setting, pseudonym flags, log masking, and contract mappings.
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Contract mappings can draw values from adapter values, defaults, datastore queries, request context, text, or expressions. Token Authorization can check criteria before the adapter contract is issued. These settings determine which attributes cross the handoff and under what conditions; map only what the receiving application needs, and account for sensitive values in logging and storage.
Check the installed versions before relying on behavior
The linked administrator guide is for the PingFederate 12.2 documentation branch and identifies version 12.2.8 in its header, while offering documentation selectors for 12.3 and 13.x. Confirm that the branch matches the installed deployment rather than assuming the 12.2 instructions apply unchanged.
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The Agentless Integration Kit’s changelog records bearer-token authentication in version 2.1 (March 2025), a correction in version 2.3.1 (February 2026), and version 2.4.0 (September 2026). Check the installed kit version and its compatibility with the deployed PingFederate release before depending on a particular feature or behavior.
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